I do not own Bleach nor One Piece. I am not going to say anything witty to that effect about what would be if I did for either or preferably both... because I'm greedy like that! With that said, this story is for entertainment purposes only and I hope you I hope you enjoy this whilst I brood.

A Reaper amongst Straw Hats

Chapter 1: One day in many

Yosho Apartment Complex, Water Seven

Bring-bring-bring-bring-bring-bring-bri—

CLAP!

While he had nothing against his job in general, let alone for the more irritable specifics... he just didn't want to get out of bed.

Yet, to his chagrin voiced by a groan, he did.

With a groan he prompted himself to sit upright in his bed, both feet planted on the floor and his groggy hand mussing his light orange hair as his energy came back to him from his slumber. The moment his blurry eyes were granted a clear view of the world was the moment his day began: Bread was stuffed into a toaster, jeans were equipped and shortly afterward a short sleeved shirt. Socks were adorned and subsequently the feet that wore them were stuffed into worn old brown leather boots with steel toed augmentation. A craftsman's belt with all the fixings was snapped into place, toast was claimed and garnished with a light smearing of jelly which soon found himself on the business end of his teeth and last but not least, to his mild reluctance each time he looked upon it, his badge, a wooden pentagon shaped badge decorated with a skull that was likewise shaped as such with the added benefit of sitting atop a shallow but wide X, was meticulously placed into a special holster on his belt before he left.

With nothing else of importance to keep him there he promptly left for another day of work as a foreman of Galley-La.

XVX

Streets

"Hey Ichigo!"

"Good morning Mister Kurosaki!"

"Don't you ever take a day off?"

Though his scowl lightened for each greetings, deepened for the occasional insult and sometimes left him for the bizarre oddity that demanded everyone's attention, he was never completely rid of it as he made his way up each flight of stairs, crowd and entire tiers to reach his workplace. It was just another day to him in a long line of which, not worth of any particular note as of yet other than it was the anniversary of when he arrived here when he caught a good look at a calendar on a passing barge. One full year since arriving what could be described a circular Venice that was famous for its shipwrights and the unique invention of the aptly named Sea Train...

How he hated it, in part that is.

With a low groan of irritation he ran his hand through his hair once more to calm himself.

As much as he liked it here, almost daring to call it a second home even, the fact that it had been one year already stood as a testament to the severe lack of progress he made. One year since he somehow was... ejected, for the lack of a better word, from his own world, he couldn't for the life of him remember the details of exactly how that came to be to begin with, and left to wonder how his friends were faring under that maniac's influence...

Scowling even more he began to jog where he could in hopes of keeping his own agitation at bay.

Still... he hadn't exactly been idle since he woke up in the city of water, canals and other odd things. It took him awhile but he had a working understanding of the world he found himself, of the Grand Line, to understand that he couldn't exactly just run about and hope to stumble across... something to get him back home... as much as he hated to acknowledge that. So in order to fund his own expedition and increase his overall chances he had gotten himself under the employment of the largest, most well paying company he found, Galley-La, as an apprentice shipwright.

How things quickly escalated from there... While wanting in his skills of building ships he was nevertheless observant, in effect there were fewer accidents and fights overall. When fights did erupt, often in the form of customers, namely pirates, refusing to pay up and instead threaten them at sword point... needless to say they were mauled before any of the other shipwrights or even the foremen got involved. And as the cases often where, a grand many of the customers, often pirates, were those who had the type of reputation that gave everyone, even the Dock One foremen, a run for their money in terms of their overall strength, but they still fell to Ichigo Kurosaki; his accomplishments did not go unnoticed. In short order he was called up to the main office... and promoted to the level of a foreman.

Why? The answer was as ridiculous to him as it was to just about everyone else who had the guts to call their boss out on it... every security and safety related position was effectively filled; he was a foreman more in name than in practice. His job was clear though, and the pay was great: Keep the workplace safe for everyone, guest and employee alike; if there was to be one silver lining to his day then it was that he was just a couple of paychecks short of his goal, two to be precise if there weren't any unexpected expenditures. Not to mention of course that today was also payday, a definite bonus for sure.

"Good morning Ichigo!"

Immediately he turned to at least give a curt nod to his greeter only to find himself surprisingly alone in his current surroundings, that being an alleyway just short of a sidewalk. Blinking and looking up he saw a man in an orange jacket and white hat flying over him, waving till he vanished behind the cover of the rooftops.

"Oh, it's just Kaku." With a shrug Ichigo continued his trek.

XVX

Office, Dock Four, Galley-La, twenty minutes later

"Now let's see..." He flipped through the schedule. "I did that yesterday... Did that too... I think Murray is covering that one... Oh, no one's watching this one."

"Hey-hey! It's the Guard!" Whap! "Ow!"

Even Ichigo couldn't help but smirk that by sheer luck the clipboard he held in his hands not only ricocheted of an employee's head and sailed back into an arc to land perfectly back into its slot on the wall.

"Holy crap, that was awesome!" another cried out as the injured man only gawked.

"Right. If anyone needs me I'll be patrolling Dock Two today," Ichigo said nonchalantly as he headed for the door.

"Okay!"

Just before stepping through the door the teen stopped. "Oh yeah, before I forget..." He turned his head back to give the assaulted man an annoyed glare. "Would you stop calling me that?" he growled.

"Hey-hey! I was just teasing ya!"

The teen sighed. "Whatever." Without further ado he exited the office and made a beeline to the front gate. As he drew nearer he couldn't help but glance at his surroundings every now and then between the roving teams of shipwrights either working on ships or gathering supplies for them, the busied warehouses and even the odd group of tractors appearing now and then to escort completed small ships to their destinations when the usual ports were blocked.

"THIS IS CRAP!" And then of course his job would creep up on him. Groaning in irritation he diverted from his chosen route to approach a group consisting of one of his more elderly coworkers and a group of five dressed to the nines as if they were from an organized crime family, one of whom was belligerently waving a set of documents in the shipwright's face.

"So much for a quiet day," he sighed just before breaking into a dead run. While he couldn't exactly hear what they were complaining about he could tell the beginnings of a brawl about to happen. And while no one in Galley-La was a pushover, save perhaps the office workers such as the accountants and such, it was still his job to intervene.

"Hey! What's going on here!"

The apparent leader of the group turned and scowled at him before snapping his attention to the man who guarded their flank, his outstretched arm, meanwhile, deliberately positioned the papers in front of the shipwright's face. "Buzo!" Not waiting to see if he so much as nodded, the leader curled his free hand into a fist and swung at the gray haired man, ensuring the entire blow came from directly behind the paper to mask its velocity.

As for the man named Buzo, he turned to Ichigo with his own scowl as he cracked his knuckles, the skin around which gaining a metal bronzed hue to it. He cocked a fist back and launched it at the charging teen only to miss at the last second when Ichigo tilted his head to the side, narrowly dodging the punch entirely as he cocked his own fist back. "Bronze Shield!" With a smirk Buzo's entire body, clothing and all were coated in living bronze. "Let's see you break through this, punk—Urk!"

It was his mistake entirely that he didn't dodge the punch that dug into his stomach, causing him to bend over and cast out spittle as he stared into the ground in shock for a precious few seconds till he toppled over as an unmoving heap that lost its bronze coating.

POW! "GAH!"

His apparent boss soon joined him, all his limbs sprawled out whilst the papers he held scattered to the wind to reveal the shipwright unharmed and lightly massaging his own knuckle.

As a trio the remaining three looked to Ichigo, the older man, and at the odd sound of dirt being crunched the crowd of maliciously grinning shipwrights that gathered around them without their noticed who were armed with whatever tool was most convenient at the time. "W-we'll show ourselves out!" one stuttered out in a chuckle before bending down to pick up their fallen leader. Tthe other two followed his lead by picking up Buzo. As a courtesy the crowd parted enough to allow a path past them and the thugs didn't waste it by beating a hasty retreat to and out the open gate.

"So what was the fuss about this time?" Ichigo asked, not turning away from the retreating mafia goons.

"Apparently their boss didn't like the paint we used on her ship or something."

"Ugh." He shook his head. "Do I even want to know?"

"No clue."

"Whatever..." He slipped passed the dispersing crowd and made for the gate once more. "If anyone needs me I'll be at Dock Two!"

"Got'cha! Have a good one, Squirt!"

Again Ichigo shook his head in exasperation. It wasn't long before he crossed the threshold of the dock, giving a curt nod to the security there, when his day was affirmed that his day was going to be anything other than quiet.

"Coo-coo! Get back here Paulie!"

"I found it! Finders keepers!"

In the canal before the dock was a Yagara bull, essentially a seahorse in a more literal sense of the word with large enough body that supported a boat, trying to ferry away Paulie, one of the foremen of Dock One, whilst Lucci, another foreman and Paulie's coworker, was chasing him down from the sidewalk.

"That money belongs to a potential customer! Coo-coo!"

The orange haired teen pinched the bridge of his nose, drew a deep breath, and began to stretch.

XVX

Dock One Entrance, ten minutes later

In front of the massive gate that was severely disproportionate to the wooden fence that cordoned off the dock to non-employees were a grand total of five figures. The youngest of which, three teenagers, were as follows: A black haired boy a little on the lanky with a crescent scar under his left eye. Atop his head he wore a straw hat garnished with a red band at the base of the dome portion. On him were denim shorts, simple straw sandals and a red vest.

Next to him was an equally skinny friend with a exceptionally longer nose, black curly hair that was partially hidden away by a head encompassing dull beige bandana crisscrossed with black lines, further adorned with strange goggles built to individually cover each eye yet could be retracted one by one if the wearer so wished. Seemingly his only clothing of choice were simply brown overalls, a white and blue stripped armband on his forearm and brown boots.

Next to them was a woman of burnt orange hair wearing a simple blue, short sleeved business shirt, a white necktie, a white miniskirt and blue sandals that matched her shirt.

Apart from them Ichigo knew to be his boss and his assistant: Iceburg, a blue haired man who was currently wearing a orange shirt covered by a red and orange stripped jacket that was companied by black slacks and dress shoes. Next to him was Kalifa, a blond haired woman whose long hair was neatly kept behind her head in the form of a bun. Her choice of garb, for today at least, was a yellow long sleeve jacket with brighter yellow cuffs, a black skirt just marginally longer than the orange haired teenager's and black high heel boots. Adorning her eyes were rimless oval glasses.

Ichigo simply waved to them for a greeting as he kept the struggling blond man in a headlock, his black hiared, top hat wearing counterpart simply standing nearby to ensure Paulie somehow didn't escape the bored teen's clutches.

"Hey! I already said I won't run!"

"Coo-coo! And yet you already tried to make a run for it!"

"I found this money! It just happened to be on the Yagara I borrowed!" he defended up until Ichigo tightened his grip. "Urk! Come on! Let me go already!" Only when they were close to the bull's docking pen, in truth a circular alcove in the street that was still connected to the canal, did Ichigo let go of the man in the denim jeans and jackets specially crafted to have a cloth holster for a set of six cigars on his left side.

"Gah!" He vigorously rubbed his neck as he scurried away to a safe distance. "You don't have to be so rough you know!"

"We brought him over, Iceburg!" Lucci said via Hattori.

"Thanks Lucci, Ichigo," Iceburg said, not one blinking at the fact that Lucci, a black haired man of curly hair and a horseshoe shaped goatee, who was seldom seen without a top hat, who also wore a white undershirt and brown pants equipped with suspenders, abruptly turned to the other three as a pigeon on the man's shoulder suddenly spoke up.

"We're sorry for that idiot who caused you trouble."

"Ah! He spoke again!" the straw hat teen exclaimed in shock as the other two gaped.

"You get used to it," Ichigo grumbled, regardless if he was heard or not.

"Coo-coo!" Lucci reached over and nabbed Paulie by the ear, yanking him over with enough force to make the man stumble, as well as cry out between embarrassed pain and startled shock, and land on his back whilst Lucci dumped a pair of suitcases on the man. "Now, apologize to them, Paulie!"

"That pigeon is doing all the talking!" the 'Straw Hat' cried out again in awe.

"It's as if he's speaking for that man in the hat," the other almost murmured as he stared at Lucci.

"He is," Ichigo remarked just before trudging past the two to reach his destination, leaving Paulie to begrudgingly deliver the suitcases to their rightful owners.

"I'm sorry?" He halted himself and looked to the orange haired teenager who said it, fixed him in her curious gaze even as Paulie traverse the last few steps. Just before Ichigo could answer her, 'Straw Hat' thanked the foreman.

"If you want to thank me, then give me ten percent."

Thump! "GWAAH!"

In less than a second Paulie was on all fours with his hands shielding back of his head with Lucci standing over him with a hammer.

"Sorry, mister," Hattori chirped. "This guy racked up a gambling debt, so he's greedy and has no manners."

The response though... Ichigo just couldn't help but stare as 'Straw Hat' pointed out and yelled "Why the heck are you talking?!"

"You bastard!" Paulie gravelly hissed out. "You're really running your mouth, Lucci!" From the inside of his cuff a rope slithered out like a living snake just before he rose up. "Rope Action!"

"Coo-coo!" Hattori flew off to avoid being caught in the crossfire as Lucci himself simply rose his left forearm up to block the attacking rope.

"Bowline Knot!" Still mimicking life even though he whipped at it, the rope snagged itself around Lucci's arm and somehow tied itself into its namesake attack. Without wasting a passing moment Paulie pulled at the rope while using one hand to pull as the other acted as a lever to lift it up, he abrupt turned himself on a dime and luirched forward as if through something, effectively lifting Lucci off the ground in an arc and sending him hurtling towards an empty space before the attacking foreman. "Punishment...!"

The two teenage boys only gawked as their orange haired counterpart covered her eyes while whimpering. Ichigo, meanwhile, groaned as he covered his face with his hand to ward off the headache.

CRASH!

"Pole-And-Line Fishing!" Paulie finished.

"I-is he okay?" the girl asked, reluctantly peeking out from the shield of her hand to the pillar of smoke that was Lucci's landing point.

"It's nothing new," Iceburg commented as he too watched. Eventually the dust and debris ebbed away to at first reveal a shadowy figure whose feet was rising towards the sky. As time wore on it became more and more evident that not only was the foreman "okay" but was performing a one handed handstand, his fingers were digging through the cement beneath him.

"Whoa! L-l-look at that!" The long nosed one cried out as he pointed at Lucci. "He parried that impact with one arm!"

"This is "normal?" the teenage woman asked as she turned her head to Ichigo, her face, like her question, was as incredulous as it was anxious as her companion remarked the fact that Lucci's fingers were digging through the ground.

Unfortunately he couldn't necessarily blame her.

"Yeah... the sad part is that this isn't the craziest thing I've seen here," Ichigo responded without so much as glancing past his own hand.

"... Do I even want to know?" she asked.

"Take my word for it: No."

"... I believe you," she responded in a deadpan fashion as she reluctantly turned back to the two foremen, Lucci of course standing upright at this point and dusting himself off.

"Hey! You, with the goggles!" 'Straw Hat' suddenly announced, earning everyone's attention with only some reluctance. "Think about it carefully!" he stated. "The one who mocked and provoked you was that pigeon!"

For a brief moment of silence Paulie stared at the teenager as if he, 'Straw Hat,' honestly had no idea what was going on. "That's fine!" he finally barked back after his private deliberation. "The one who hit me was Lucci!" He pointed at the accused and proven guilty man.

"The pigeon can't hit you himself so he had that guy hit you!" At the sound of flapping he and a few others looked up in both searching for the source and out of sheer curiosity. "Hey, Pigeon! If you wanna fight, fight yourself!" he declared the moment he caught Hattori flying overhead, in a circle that ended with perching on Lucci's shoulder once more. "Say something!"

"Coo-coo!" the bird said at last after settling itself on its normal roast.

"Oh? You wanna fight? Bring it on, bastard!" Rolling up his sleeves, Paulie marched to the side of being in between Lucci and Iceburg as the former turned to face the latter. His fists upturned and ready for a fight despite being half-commanded by Iceburg to stop. Lucci, during which, turned to the trio and by proxy Ichigo.

"Coo-coo! Well, sorry for the fuss." The bird raised its wing. "I'm Rob... No," it covered its beak with its wing for a moment till it spoke again, "I mean I'm Hattori the Pigeon." He pointed at Lucci next. "And this is Rob Lucci. He works here. Nice to meet you. Coo-coo!"

The youngest of the two women opened her mouth to say something before shutting itself to compose her thoughts, turning to Ichigo in the meantime. "Is he a ventriloquist?" she suddenly asked.

"Most people don't usually get it in the first go," Ichigo admitted.

"Whoa! Seriously?! Then it was you who was complaining!" 'Straw Hat' half shouted, half asked in amazement as he clapped at the foreman alongside his likewise affected long nosed friend. "You're really, really good! I didn't notice!" the other excitedly offered as he clapped.

Lucci, during which, raised both hands, an action his pet bird mimicked perfectly to ward off the praise and adoration given to him. "Stop it. It's no big deal. Coo-coo."

Meanwhile Paulie walked up from behind Lucci, from his side, whilst chuckling and enjoying the a lit cigar. "He's a weirdo who can't talk to people normally!"

His good mood was short lived however as he cast a glance at Ichigo and the only female visitor; he gaped, his face reddened as he eyed the teenage woman in the miniskirt. "Wait a sec! What is with that woman!" He pointed at her while yelling.

"Wh-what?" She looked to Ichigo again as if he could offer an explanation. Again Ichigo groaned and covered his face with his hand.

"He has this thing for decency..." Ichigo grumbled.

"Damn straight I do!" He marched up to the duo. "You're shameless! You're showing your legs too much!" He clenched his hand and held it up, though close to his body all the same. "This is a workplace for men! Look at how you're dressed!"

"We have women working here too," Ichigo stated without looking at either of them.

"Not at Dock One!"

"Now Paulie," Kalifa interrupted as she intruded on the scene by approaching the man from the front. "Calm down."

As luck would have it Paulie glanced down and saw her own attire, reignited the blush on his face to the degree that he gasped and gutturally exclaimed due to a loss for words. "You too, Kalifa!" From behind Lucci grabbed a hold of a arm as Paulie took a step forward, forcing the man to turn sideways but not completely away from Iceburg's assistant. "You haven't learned your lesson and are wearing outrageous clothing again! How many times do I have to tell you to wear pants?! Long Pants!"

"What the..." the long nosed teen uttered as he stared at the scene.

"Long pants?" the orange haired teen asked as she tried to comprehend what Paulie was saying.

"If it makes you feel better he's a little better outside the workplace, or really distracted," Ichigo offered as he bridged the bridge of his nose again, his eyes shut. Meanwhile 'Straw Hat' burst out laughing while he claimed Paulie was a "weirdo too."

"Well, that's it. Let's open up the door and go inside already."

Begrudgingly Paulie calmed down looked towards his employer before backing away, Lucci letting go in the meantime so they could head for the gate.

"Well, it's been nice meeting you," Ichigo spoke up as he turned away, "but I have to go now."

"Actually Ichigo, why don't you stay?"

Stopping and stiffening in surprise for the sudden addressing, Ichigo looked back with his typical scowl. "No offense but I've basically promised to be at Dock Two today," he replied to Iceburg.

"Well... I can understand that." Inexplicably Iceburg started digging his pinky into his ear. "But I feel better knowing our guest are looked after by "one who protects." He grinned a little at Ichigo's expense, let alone ignored his deepened scowl.

"Huh? I thought his name meant Strawberry."

CONK!

"Ow!" 'Straw Hat' clutched at his head for dear life to push back the welt threatening to steal away his hat. "That hurts!"

The girl rolled her eyes in exasperation before turning to Ichigo as if he hadn't bonked her friend atop his head, her face and lips a cute pout even Ichigo couldn't ignore... much to his regret. "Would you accompany us, please? I could really use some sane company for a change!"

"Look I really should—"

"It's already taken care of, Mister Kurosaki." His head wiped towards Kalifa just in time to see her stow a baby transponder snail into a coat pocket. "I've taken the liberty to inform the foremen of Dock Two that you would be escorting a group of visitors in Dock One."

He twitched his brow... "I don't have a choice, do I?"

The side of her lips twitched upward in a miniscule grin as she adjusted her glasses so the glare would blind the world to her eyes.

"Fine," he sigh in defeat at last before turning to the trio and bowing to them. "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki and I'll be your escort during your visit today."

"Hey! Strawberry!"

In a flash Ichigo was standing straight, a upheld and strained fist trembling near his own face. "It's Ichigo, not Strawberry!"

'Straw Hat' only ignored him as he pointed an accusing finger at him. "That really hurt you know!"

"Oh please, Luffy," the girl spoke up as she waved him off in the company a half lidded stare. "You're just overreacting." She turned to Ichigo and bowed to him. "Please ignore him, he craves attention wherever he goes."

"But it hurts a lot more than your punches!" Luffy whined.

"Hey, Luffy! Check this out!" 'Long Nose' yelled from over by the opening gate, inadvertently stopping 'Straw Hat' from complaining further and coaxing him over to satiate his own curiosity, all the while still holding his head.

"Let's just get this over with," Ichigo let out in a tired sigh.

"Geez, you're making it sound like a death sentence," the younger woman sighed as well.

He glanced to her before making his way to the opened gate. "I'm just not feeling it today."

Puzzled, the teenager shrugged and followed him, the elder of the two following not long after.

XVX

'Inside'

"Oh Cool!"

Dock One, jewel of Galley-La. While every other dock was worth its salt and then some thanks to the skill and dedication of its workers, if it was of importance or else needed to be tended to by the best of the best then Dock One was the place to be. From juggernauts that were galleys to common sailboats under construction, though mostly ships the size of the former, to supplies, cranes and stored lumber in open space between warehouses and the scant few offices to be found, it was the epitome of what a dock should be under the best of conditions. One could barely swing a dead cat without either accidently winging a dock worker on the move, a ship or even an accidentally forgotten canteen of water. As such, and perhaps even despite the mild crowding, Dock One had by far the highest safety rating of all the docks thanks to the vigilance and meticulous care of the workers and foremen present.

"Hold it right there!" Clutch!

"Awww!"

That being said, Ichigo, out of good conscience, wasn't about to let an unwitting accident going to occur under his watch, job or none. More so once Iceburg's attention started to be divided amongst various workers asking for help and advice, Paulie and Lucci likewise performing their own duties without outright straying from the group. Kalifa, during which, was sharing the abridged history of Galley-La and Iceburg with the other two guests...

Sadly Luffy managed to overhear her; he slipped out of Ichigo's grip than a tool covered in Vaseline in order to rush over and pat Iceburg on the back in congratulation.

"Hey, pops. I heard that you're a topnotch shipwright. Do you wanna be a pirate with me?"

Two jaws dropped, one belonging to Ichigo and the other to Paulie whereas Kalifa was openly gritting her teeth in outright aggravation. Of the three only two needed to be restrained as they voiced their... discontentment while Luffy's friends tried to play it off as a overeager quirk on his part.

"Well... you guys don't even have a single shipwright?" Iceburg asked.

"That's right," Luffy admitted with a unabashed smile. "We came to this island in order to have our ship repaired and to find a new crew member."

The older man nodded in understanding. "It's true that we have tons of shipwrights, but I wonder if anyone would want to go on board a pirate ship." He casually pointed at Ichigo. "Aside from him of course."

Ichigo's brow twitched in annoyance.

"Though he's not much of a shipwright to be honest."

Twitch. "Either suggest me or insult me, not both!" he growled.

Iceburg turned back to Luffy as if he hadn't heard a thing. "If you find someone who wants to go with you, you can headhunt him if you want."

"Really?! You're generous! Can't I ask you to join us, pops?"

Ichigo, meanwhile, gave them a deadpan stare as his mouth hung slightly as he tried to come to terms with being utterly ignored, for all intents and purposes.

"Well... I can't. I'm the mayor."

In the background Usopp, Luffy's long nosed friend, offered Ichigo a sympathetic pat on the back. "There, there. I know what it feels like."

Clack!

"Hm?" Both Paulie and Ichigo looked behind them, and with them Nami, the orange haired girl, and Usopp followed suite to find a tall man in an orange and blue jacket with a high collar, a white hate, blue pants and a long square nose approaching them from behind. "Oh Kaku!" Paulie spoke up, "where have you been?"

"An assessment," he said simply... Ichigo furrowed his brow and frowned as opposed to his usual scowl.

"Ah! You're the guy from earlier!" Nami said with a smile as she fully turned to him. "So you checked our ship?"

"Yeah, I did." Ichigo's frown increased; Kaku was normally a more joyful soul to be around and as such rarely spoke in normal, let alone subdued tones.

Upon noticing Iceburg he turned to him. "Ah. so you were here, Iceburg."

If he was put off by the situation then the blue haired man didn't show it. Or rather he grew more serious in his tone alone. "I know the situation. How was it?"

"Well..."

Before he could start, Nami looked about and then upward without missing a beat, as if it were just another everyday occurrence, before placing a hand alongside her mouth and shouting, "Luffy! Come down now!"

Ichigo whipped his head and gawked as he spied Luffy had capitalized on the attention given to Kaku to scale to the third tier of a nearby scaffold.

"Okay! I'll be right down!"

On a hunch he again whipped his head around and growled himself as he again clapped a hand against his face. "This is not one of my better days."

Usopp, like Luffy, managed to wander off while he wasn't looking.

"We all have our off days, Mister Kurosaki," Kalifa offered, receiving a half hearted grunt as both an acknowledgement and a garbled 'thank you.'

Clamf! "Huh? Where's Usopp?"

Nami pointed in the direction of a alley between two rows of warehouses. "He was wandering about over there until just a moment ago."

"I'll go get him then," Ichigo grumbled as he started his search. Not even three feet into his search did a dock worker come out of a warehouse with two suitcases in his hand. He peered out at the various workers and crowds before him till his sights settled on the pirates standing near Iceburg. "Hey, you guys!" he called out. "Do these bags belong to you?" Already he made his way towards them as Ichigo regulated himself to the sidelines, observing as the man eventually placed the suitcases in front of Nami and Luffy.

"They're the bags Usopp was carrying!" Nami stated in surprise.

"Thanks!" Luffy gratefully offered as Nami placed two fists on her waist as she looked around for Usopp.

"Geez... Where did Usopp go? Leaving our precious money alone?!"

"Money?"

"Excuse me." The off put and confused man twirled to face Ichigo. "Did you see anyone near them?"

"No, sir." He shook his head, earning a scowl from Ichigo.

"Could you tell me where you found them?"

The man pointed at the very warehouse her left from. "Right in there, sir."

With the same scowl as before, Ichigo turned his sights on the quiet pair behind the man. "I'm going to look for your friend."

With a frown of her own, Nami nodded, leaving Ichigo to run off in the direction as pointed out by the dock worker...

A/N: Yet another idea that popped into my head and I was afraid of forgetting it. As with a handful of other stories though the inspiration didn't necessarily come from the source material that is Bleach and One Piece...

Interestingly enough I got the idea while playing Bioshock Infinite.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Originally there was more but frankly I felt that past the current ending it was getting a little... to be frank it felt more like filling than it was anything else that could come across as a story.

Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.